Olive Harvest and Cure 2009

We have ten olive trees on our property that I have planted over the past five years. The oldest of which is a California Mission tree with a mixed variety of Italian, French, and Spanish trees for the rest. Last year, we harvested around 2 gallons of fruit which we decided to use a dry salt cure on. They were quite good and made the wrinkled black and leathery style. This year, however, we decided to use a lye cure for green ripe olives as described by local farmer Bill Spencer in the book California Rancho Cooking.

We started out by harvesting the olives. Luckily the cat was there with us to watch for ground squirrels.

New Mexico style Chile con Carne

One of our favorite regions of food is New Mexican. This is really distinctive from Mexican as anyone who has been there knows. However, it is surprisingly hard to find good restaurants in California that serve New Mexican food. There is the classic Anita's in Fullerton and the not quite as good Zia Cafe in Santa Barbara. But that is about all I know of. And neither are as good as you can get at the small Duran's pharmacy lunch counter in Albuquerque.

This year, we bought and roasted 25 lbs or so of New Mexican green chilis (which we can luckily get now in bulk in season in CA) and made green sauce. That has been great. But it got me in the mood for a red sauce as well. The sauce is really easy. I buy a bag of New Mexican dried red chilis at the local carniceria. You can mix and match the dried chilis if you want. But I just use a dozen or so of these.

1. I toast the chilis on a cast iron skillet until I have peppersprayed myself into a coughing fit, then put let them cool. Then cut them open and remove seeds and cut the dried out meat into strips. These go into a small pot with boiling water. Once all the chilis are in, I add enough water to cover and let simmer 15 minutes.

2. This all goes into a blender. Careful, because the liquid is hot in temperature and chili heat. Blend until it is all broken up and liquid (3 minutes or so).

3. Pour this into a strainer and press all the liquid through into a bowl. There will be some skin and solids left in a paste that you discard.

4. Next, saute a small onion and clove of garlic in a small pot. Once soft, add the chili water.

5. Add 1 tsp Cumin, 1 tsp salt, and simmer a bit.

6. Take out 1/4 cup of the liquid and add 2 tbsp flour and make a paste. Add that back into sauce to thicken.

7. Cool and store in the fridge and use for great enchilada sauce or for my other favorite... Chile con Carne.

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